


Snow Birds

by orphan_account



Series: The Pit Bull Series [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Animal AU, M/M, dog au, pit bull au, veterinary au, winter special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7861579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Jason and Tim's first winter with their new family. The heater is out and snow is falling, if only there was someone to fix it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow Birds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cornflakepizza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornflakepizza/gifts).



It was Jason’s first winter at Bruce and Tommy’s veterinary. It brought back bad memories. Freezing cold rain in the dark alley. Loneliness. 

It was grey and awful and cold out there. He didn’t want to leave the house. He’d rather have an accident and face Tommy and Bruce’s rebukes than go out there. 

Tim seemed to be of a similar mind. He had squirmed under Jason for warmth. 

Tommy was wearing his thick down jacket inside, and was making growling noises at the square-ish bump on the wall. Every-so-often he would bang it and give barks of discontentment. 

“Where’s Dick?” Tim poked his nose out from under Jason. The border collie pup had been growing over the past few months. His baby fat had fallen away and his legs had become gangly for his little body. His fur had grown and was all longish and all over the place. 

Jason grunted. Dick wasn’t slowed down by the cold at all. As soon as everyone had pulled themselves out of their cozy beds and cuddle piles, Dick had shot out of the house through the dog door barking happily. 

“BRUCE! BRUCE! YOU SHOULD COME OUT AND PLAY!!!” The mutt barked. Bruce didn’t follow though. Bruce wasn’t much for mornings. He was tapping at the box on the wall with a frown on his face. 

Jason was reeling from the small lump of warmth that was Dick running off. It was cold! 

It was cold and he had had nightmares of the same sort of cold. He went to Tommy and put his head on his lap.

“Hey pretty boy,” Tommy squished his face affectionately. 

Tim pushed against him for his own face squishes from Tommy. Bruce started talking. Tommy got up gently pushing them off. He went to stare at the wall box too. 

Which left him and Tim on their pillow. Tim definitely got the better deal being almost completely covered by the large pit bull. 

-

“I think the heater’s out,” Bruce said. Tommy gave the thermostat another angry bang. Jason looked up, but quickly curled up again. It seemed the only one who didn’t mind the cold was Dick, surprising considering his short hair. 

Bruce went over and put a blanket over the curled up dogs. Jason licked his hand in thanks. Alfred had silently moved and wriggled under the blanket with Jason and Tim as well. 

“So we need to call a repairman?” 

Bruce nodded, “I’ll call.”

It was then that Dick burst into the house barking joyously. He was all wet—

“Oh no,” Tommy groaned. 

-

Dick burst into the room. 

“It smelt like snow and I got reallyexcitedandthenitstartedfallingandit’ssnowing!!!!” Dick headed straight for the pile of animals, tearing into them grabbing the blanket with his mouth and pulling it off. Jason gave a bark of surprise. Dick did two quick circles around the living room and jumped on top of the formerly cosy dog pile. 

“DICK YOU’RE ALL WET!!” Jason howled. Dick wasn’t deterred. His tail was going a mile a minute as he yipped in excitement.

“Snowsnowsnowsnowsnow!!!” 

“What’s that?” Jason and Tim asked. 

Dick stopped, stalk still. “You’ve never seen snow?” 

Jason had only been alive a year and last winter it was wind and rain and frost. 

Tommy caught Dick before he could cause any more trouble. He toweled off the wet dog and brought out a blue and black thing that looked like what Tommy and Bruce liked to wear over their fur-less bodies. Dick, who usually didn’t like anything impeding his movement, stood still (other than his wagging tail) while Tommy pulled it over his body. It was a little knitted black and blue sweater.

Dick leapt out of Tommy’s arms and went back to Jason.

“What the hell is that?” The pit bull demanded.

“Babs made it for me,” Dick said, extremely pleased. “It keeps me warm when it snows.” 

Jason eyed the portable blanket with a bit of jealousy. It would be too small for him though. Tim poked out from under Jason.

“What’s snow?” He demanded. 

“Follow me!” Dick was out of the dog door. Jason blinked slowly. Tim squirmed out from under him and followed. Alfred gave a meow of discontent and went to Bruce who was talking into the glass box. He stroked the cat unconsciously. 

Jason gave a huff and followed the other dogs outside. 

White. 

Jason froze. The whole world had turned white and white flakes fell from the sky.

Tim was dipping his paw in and out of the ‘snow.’ Dick was bouncing around, nipping at the snowflakes and diving into the snow that had begun to pile up. 

It was cold! Frozen! 

After hesitating and sniffing and inspecting, Tim dived in as well. He barked at the falling snow, just in case they could communicate, but they couldn’t, it was just frozen water. Soon Dick and Tim were chasing each other, covered in the huge wet flakes and Jason was still frozen at the door at the top of the steps. He whined.

Nope, nope, nope. He popped back into the house. 

-

“She can’t come until Monday,” Bruce announced. 

Tommy groaned. He had added another layer and he was still cold. Luckily they didn’t have any overnights in the vet. The few checkups that had been scheduled had called and canceled, not wanting to travel to through the fresh snow. 

Jason stomped in shivering uncontrollably. He headed past his pillow and went straight to the kitchen going under the table.

“What’s wrong with Jay?” Tommy frowned. Under the table in the kitchen meant Jason was antsy and upset. 

“Maybe he doesn’t like the cold?” Bruce suggested. They went into the kitchen trying to coax him out into the open.

“He’s shivering a lot…” Tommy stuck his hand out and petted Jason’s head. 

“We should get him and Tim coats,” Bruce suggested. Tommy sighed. That meant leaving the house. It was an icebox in here, but it was a freezer out there. “We can give Tim one of Dick’s hand-me-downs for now, but it’ll be too big for him,” Bruce continued. “They need some extra layers if we’re not going to have heat for the weekend.”

“I don’t think Jason wants to head out in the snow, and we can’t drive,” Tommy didn’t like making Jason do something he didn’t want to do, but it would be impossible to find something that fit the big dog if they didn’t take him with them. 

“He needs to learn though,” Bruce pointed out. “He just needs to know it won’t hurt him. Jason’s strong, aren’t you boy?” Bruce hunched down and reached under the table. Jason bumped his nose against Bruce’s hand. 

-

The leashes had come out. 

Jason stood still. Oh no. That meant those crazy humans wanted to go outside. Dick was in his blue and black sweater and Tim was in a badly sized red, yellow and green monstrosity. Tim shook in irritation. Thankfully they didn’t try to stick anything on Jason—other than the leash. 

Jason seized up.

Tommy bent down and complimented him and scratched his ears murmuring comfort. Bruce said something and handed Tim’s leash over. Tommy lead Tim out of the house and into the snow. Dick hovered by Bruce and Jason’s side, vibrating with energy at the chance to go out in the snow again, but worried about the pit bull. He licked Jason’s face questioningly. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“It’s cold,” Jason couldn’t say more than that. The cold made him sore and brought back the loneliness and pain of his early puppyhood. Dick pressed against him.

“The snow can be fun. You can chase it, and whack it, and it’s cold, but afterwards you get to run in and get dried off and cuddle with Bruce and snuggling. That’s the best part of winter.” 

“Dick, go find Tommy,” Bruce commanded. 

Dick hedged prancing from the door and back to Jay. Bruce repeated the command. Dick quickly licked the Pit Bull’s face and then sprinted to go catch up with Tommy and Tim. 

-

Bruce knelt down running his hand down Jason’s body gently. The pit bull refused to move an inch. 

“You don’t like the snow, huh?” 

Jason gave a whine. A small plead to stay at home and hide under the blankets. 

“I know, I know, but you’ll be cold all weekend if we can’t get you a jacket. It’ll be okay, you can trust me.” 

Jason gave a huff and then reluctantly licked Bruce’s cheek. Bruce smiled and patted his head. Jason reluctantly let him lead him out of the house. 

-

The snow felt weird. It was like when Tommy got a Slurpee and gave Jason a lick to try. It was cold and wet, but it wasn’t sticky like the sugary drink— and it was all over. Jason took a mouthful. It was water. He snorted. Now his face was cold. He shook, reluctantly moving at Bruce’s side. They had caught up to Tommy. Tim was being a pet, perfectly heeled at Tommy’s side. Dick was off leash, zooming in circles as they moved down the path towards the main village.

“Brooooose,” Jason whined, “This was a horrible idea. “My paws are froze and my tail is froze and my nose is froze.” 

“This is amazing!” Tim barked, “Frozen water from the sky! Why does it do that, Dick?”

“Maybe the snow is playing chase,” Dick happily suggested. He rushed over to Bruce’s side.

“That’s probably not it,” Tim murmured.

“Froze, froze, froze!” Jason groused. “My nose is froze,” He repeated.

Dick rushed over and licked the tip of his nose warming it up a little. Jason licked back. 

Tommy was making similar sounds as Jason. Bruce was upbeat (as upbeat as Bruce ever got). Every now and then he would put a comforting gloved hand on Jason’s head. 

And although Jason still vehemently disliked the cold and the snow and his paws were still froze—

He wasn’t alone. Dick and Tim and Tommy and Bruce were all together with him. 

He felt a happy moment. Family. Family and happiness even when there was bad things like snow around. 

Jason’s frozen tail slowly started to wag. 

-

“It seems like Jay’s cheered up,” Tommy commented. They had finally gotten to the village and the pet store. Jason had a bit more spring to his step and a wag to his tail. 

“He’s a brave boy.” 

“We’ll see how well he puts up with a sweater.” 

“Maybe not that brave,” Bruce mused. 

-

Tim hopped around in his new sweater. It was black, red and yellow. He gave squeaks of approval. Dick’s hand-me-down had been big and itchy, this was perfect. It fit him well and he was warm in the frozen water. Jason grumbled beside him. He shook his head. His sweater was red. It even had a hood on it for his ears since he wasn’t very furry. Over that was a brown jacket. Tommy insisted on adding it. He wasn’t happy about the clothing forced on his body, but he didn’t even pause when they went back out into the snow. It looked like Jason was happy to be warm again.

They let Tim and Jason off their leashes while they went down the path back to the Vet. Dick egged Jason on into a game of chase in the high piling snow. Tommy and Bruce were in stitches as Jason tried to run through the snow without actually touching it. He lifted his legs as high and quickly as he could.   
-

They made their way back into their house. It was disappointingly chilly. The dogs were glad to keep on their sweaters and were soon in a pile with Alfred. Tommy rubbed his hands together. 

“You sure we can’t fix it ourselves?” He eyed Bruce. Bruce was pretty good at picking things up. Why not Furnaces?

“You can barely put up Ikea shelves,” Bruce snorted.

“I wasn’t really talking about we, more of a you.” Tommy was good with his hands when it came to living things—not so much with inanimate objects…

“I can take a look,” Bruce knew Tommy wouldn’t stop urging him until he at least pretended to try and fix it. 

He went down into the basement. Tim trotted at his side, curious as to what he was up to. 

He flipped on the light.

A gentle cooing surprised him. Tim barked, surprised as well. There was flapping in the dim light and suddenly a bird was in front of Tim. A little bluebird. 

Bruce blinked in surprise. The bird hopped forward, apparently taken with Tim. Bruce looked over at the heater and wires. There was another bluebird. She made her nest in the wires. She looked up, startled to see Bruce and Tim. She quickly flew down and pecked at the first bluebird who was trying to push himself against Tim’s warm fur. Bruce looked in bemusement. Tim seemed more curious than aggressive as he sniffed at the birds. The second bird flapped up back to the nest. She seemed to tilt her head guiltily and then moved a wire with her beak. The furnace suddenly rumbled to life. 

Bruce laughed, “Looks like the mechanic came in time after all.” 

-

“No.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. 

“One,” Tommy said as he stared at the bluebirds happily perched on Tim’s back, “They’re wild animals.” 

Bruce didn’t seem impressed.

“Two, Alfred will eat them.” 

Alfred, as if to contradict him, licked ‘Harper,’ as Bruce had named her. Harper gave a small appreciative tweet. 

“Fine, if not Alfred, then the menaces.” 

The menaces were Cassandra and Stephanie, Barbara Gordon’s cats that had taken a shine to Bruce and liked to break in and eat Tim’s food. 

“It’s only for the winter. Barbara keeps the two of them in during cold weather anyway. Besides you owe Harper thanks, she fixed our furnace.” 

Tommy looked at him blandly. 

“Jason doesn’t like other animals.” It was a last ditch attempt.

-

Jason stared at the little things and sniffed. The birds huddled together on Tim’s back. The lady bird, ‘Harper’ pecked at him when he got too close to her brother, Cullen. 

He gave a growl.

“Be nice!” Tim snapped.

“Why should I?” Jason grumbled. 

“Harper brought back the heat!” 

It was getting warmer in here…

“New frieeeeeends!” Dick stuck his nose in the birds faces and gave them quick kisses.

Jason gave a snort of acceptance. If they brought warmth he wasn’t about to complain. 

Tommy gave defeated sounds when Jason walked away with little interest. Bruce smelt smug. 

“Just for the winter,” Harper chirped. “We don’t like houses, but it’s freezing out there.” 

“We won’t get in the way,” Cullen promised.

“Oh no, it’s fine! Lots of animals come here,” Tim said.

“We look after them,” Dick added proudly. “Bruce (he’s great) and Tommy (also great) are good humans.” 

“Bruce seems good,” Harper agreed. 

“Whoa! What are they doing?!” Cullen squawked. The animals turned. While they weren’t looking it seemed Bruce and Tommy made up.

“Licking,” Tim, Dick and Jason answered at once.

“It looks like they’re pecking each other’s faces!” Harper whistled sounding a bit grossed out. 

“Tim, you should lick me,” Cullen suggested shyly. The border collie acquiesced.

Dick trotted over and licked Jason’s nose.

“Is your nose still froze?”

Jason licked him back. 

He felt warm. He felt safe. He had family.


End file.
